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Build guide 2018: best value Intel B360 RGB gaming PC

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Posted on June 05 2018

Nowadays, building a PC is not only about making games run fast, but also about making the PC "bling" in shiny, eye-catching designs. With the rapid progress of science and technology, when professional computer gamers buy gaming PCs these days, in addition to the basic requirement for the computers' performance being powerful enough to run single-player games smoothly, it is best to be able to play online matches with people. Team up for a "Chicken Dinner" (in the survival game "PUBG"), and stream a live broadcast to share your fun gaming times with friends and fellow netizens, and become an internet sensation while at it. As for the appearance of the PC, the traditional PC's rectangular form factor and monotone color have long been unable to meet their expectations: a PC that lights up is only considered basic nowadays, it is best to have RGB multi-colored lights, and able to adjust the lighting effects as they desire, in order to stand out from the crowd of PC builds, and become the coolest gamer around. Allow me to introduce to you the build guide list for the newest generation of gaming PCs; you're also welcome to take a look at our YesWeBuild website, and build your own computer yourself.https://www.msi.com/Landing/how-to-build-a-pc

How to get the best value when building a new generation RGB gaming PC, how to build a PC that is both fast and cool-looking

For professional PC gamers, they care most about how to spend the least amount of money to achieve the highest performance. In the following, I will list a few critical requirements for the new generation of RGB gaming PCs, and shed some light on how to strike a balance between performance, stability, and budget, to spend wisely and build the RGB gaming PC with the best bang for the buck.

As for current-gen gaming PC requirements, when running an AAA blockbuster game title on 1080p with max settings, in order to achieve a smooth audiovisual performance, the key point is CPU and GPU, the two main components that contributes most to gaming performance. In addition, RAM and storage play indispensable roles as well.

As for the processor, we suggest choosing the eighth generation Intel Core i5-8400 processor. This is the entry level product of the eighth generation Core i5 processors, which has adopted a 6-core 6-thread architecture, with a maximum operating clock rate that reaches 4.00GHz. Its number of cores has increased 50% when compared to the previous generation of Core i5 processors, providing a more powerful computing power, where gaming in 1080p is guaranteed to be a smooth experience.

As for the graphics card, we suggest using a graphics card with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics core and 6GB or more GDDR5X graphics memory, to ensure that games run smoothly in 60fps without lagging on 1080p max settings when running AAA blockbuster titles such as Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Far Cry, Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, Overwatch, and the ever-popular PUBG, i.e. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

Other than the two components mentioned above, we will also consider RAM memory and storage. For RAM, we suggest using DDR4 16GB capacity with currently the newest Microsoft operating system, Windows 10, to ensure the most efficient application; as for storage, we suggest using mid to higher tier SSD with over 240GB of space for the installation location of main system and games, which effectively improves the boot-up speeds and read/write performance of games.

Also, we suggest purchasing a 7200RPM hard disk drive with at least 1TB capacity, to store other miscellaneous data and games that are less frequently run. With the Intel Optane memory acceleration technology supported by models B360 and above of the current-gen Intel 300 series chipsets, the performance of hard disk drives is also significantly improved.

As we have mentioned earlier, since RGB lighting effects is an indispensable element for the new generation of gaming PCs, we suggest adopting a motherboard that is equipped with RGB light source integrated control features (For example, MSI's B360 GAMING PRO CARBON motherboard as mentioned in this article), together with supported graphics card, hear sink, computer case and cooling fan, or even accessories such as keyboards, mouse, microphone headsets, etc., allowing gamers to customize their favorite colors and lighting effects, in order to provide the coolest gaming experience.

2-3. Audio and video entertainment: Enjoy immersive experience when playing games and listening to music, also, try out the newest VR technology without hassle

The new generation of gaming motherboards are also equipped with various software and hardware enhancements. On top of ensuring the highest quality in audiovisual experience when watching videos and listening to music, when gamers team up for gaming matches, not only must team voice chat communications be clear, the best in-game audio effects should also be provided; it is crucial to strike a balance between the two.

MSI's B360 GAMING PRO CARBON motherboard is equipped with Intel B360 chipset, and is able to support currently the newest Intel eighth generation Core series processors and DDR4-2666 memory modules; it also supports Core Boost and the most cutting-edge Intel Optane memory acceleration technology, and Turbo USB 3.1 Gen2 features. Through supporting these latest hardware specification, gamers are able to enjoy the ultimate speeds in their gaming experience.

Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic and Voice Boost audio technology let gamers experience the best audio environment, and with Mystic Light and Mystic Light Extension, light source integration on the motherboard, components, and accessories can be controlled, providing up to 16.8 million types of lighting effects for the gamers to configure. Also, high quality military-grade parts, cooling designs and rigid compatibility testing provides numerous safeguards for stability. If you haven't made up your mind on choosing the appropriate motherboard, please use the tool provided by MSI to filter out the best product for you: https://www.msi.com/Landing/best-cheap-budget-gaming-pc-build

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING VR X 6G graphics card has adopted the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics core, and equipped with 6GB or more GDDR5X graphics memory, is able to switch between three operating modes, namely "OC", "gaming" and "silent", with clock rate up to 1809 MHz / 1594 MHz / 8108 MHz (OC mode), which is faster than the default speed of NVIDIA's reference design GTX 1060 6GB graphics card, making games run even more smoothly.

As for cooling features, Twin Frozr VI cooling architecture is adopted. Nickel-plated copper base along with aluminum heat sink and extra large heat pipe, together with the exclusive aerodynamic blades of the TORX 2.0 fan, is able to quickly vent away heat. Also, Zero Frozr intelligent fan-stopping technology is able to have the fan stop operating in low-load situations to keep it quiet and noiseless. Throw in customizable MSI GAMING Dragon LED lighting effects, gamers are able to configure lighting colors and special effects as they desire, to create a personalized style.

All of the relevant tuning features mentioned above can be easily set via Gaming App software. A mobile phone version is also provided, enabling the gamers to switch the operating modes through their cellphones, in order to achieve the performance speeds desired, and feel good while at it.

MSI Core Forzr L cooler has adopted eight sets of 6mm heat pipe and aluminum bonded fins, which is directly connected to the rigid nickel-plated copper base, conducting heat generated by the CPU to the cooling bonded fins right away. With up to 1 exclusive TORX 120mm cooling fans, air flow drawn in by their exclusive aerodynamic blade design will quickly taken away the heat on the heat sink fins, which can effectively dissipate up to 250W of heat from the CPU.

In addition, there are numerous designs that allow gamers to install and configure themselves: eccentric design reduces interference with the graphics card of the first PCI-E slot on the motherboard; the height of fan is kept at the adjustable range of 36mm-55mm, which avoids RAM clearance issues that you may encounter during the installation of memory modules. What's more, you may use MSI's Mystic Light App software with a cellphone or computer to customize the lighting effects on the heat sink cover; choose from 16.8 million types of lighting effects.